1. Field of the Invention
Apparatus to enable a person to play soccer by himself.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the last several years soccer has become more and more popular as a competitive sport in the United States. Part of this can be attributed to the fact that soccer, unlike American football, does not require extensive and expensive protective equipment and also because soccer can be played and excelled at by persons of all sizes.
To play soccer, one must, in addition to being in excellent physical condition, have excellent coordination and the ability to instantaneously react with respect to a moving soccer ball so as to be able to anticipate the motion of the soccer ball, kick the ball, or take other appropriate action. In order to improve a players skills in soccer, it is necessary to improve the players reflexes so that he will be able to react in as short a time as possible to a moving soccer ball and respond accordingly.
Obviously, the best technique for improving one's skills as a soccer player is to practice and play with other players as much as possible. Sometimes this is not possible because there are no other players available to practice and play soccer with or because there is no field available or due to inclement weather, etc.
There have been patents which have issued which disclose inventions designed to enable a person to practice and hone those skills necessary to play a particular sport.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,042,404 which issued on July 3, 1962 to George R. Masters is for an invention entitled "Football Practice Gear". Mr. Masters, in his patent, discloses a fabric headband 14 which is wrapped around a person's head. Attached to said fabric headband is an elastic tether 10 with the remaining end of the elastic tether attached to a loop which is affixed to a football. Mr. Masters' invention is intended to be used so that a person who has placed the headband on his head may throw the football and the tether will return the ball to the player as a result of its elasticity. The "Football Practice Gear" of the Masters patent has several drawbacks in that it requires a specially designed football and also can be dangerous in that when the football is returned, as a result of the elasticity in the tether, there is always the danger of the person wearing the headband being injured.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,338 which issued on Sept. 21, 1982 to Randall L. May discloses a "Football Practice Aid". The "Football Practice Aid" consists of a football, a steel and nylon harness, a series of metal attachments that allow complete rotation and movement of the football, a tether rope, a small elastic tether cord and a means connecting a stake in the ground. The patent to Mr. May is described as having the purpose of enabling one to practice kicking and passing a football with the football always returning to its point of origin, a fixed location, through the use of the elastic cord.
U.S. Pat. No. 660,787 which issued to Bissell on Oct. 30, 1900 discloses a ball surrounded by a holder 3 made of fibrous material. The ball and cover of fibrous material is attached to a tether so that after being hit it will be returned to its original location.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,497 to Warehime which issued on Oct. 5, 1982 discloses a mobile game having play goals in the form of tether balls with various heights of tether anchors.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,782,254 to Breidenbach which issued on Nov. 18, 1930 discloses a ball secured by an elastic rope midway between two handles. The ball is moved from one end to the other by players at each of the two ends of the rope in an elaborate tug-of-war.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,351,343 to Papp dated Nov. 7, 1967 is directed to a tethering means for a game ball. Two woven nylon bands snugly fit around surface portions of a ball and are attached to a flexible tether element.
The several prior art patents listed above do not disclose a soccer ball training aid which is capable of being attached to a portion of a person's body via an elastic means such that the person may kick the soccer ball and when the soccer ball returns, the person can again kick the ball, etc.